For his accomplishments, Queen Elizabeth knighted Issigonis in 1969. In 1928 his first job was in the design office of Gillett, an engineering firm in London. In August 1959 the car was launched as the Morris Mini Minor and the Austin Seven, which soon became known as the Austin Mini. The irony being, of all the cars built in the world that follow his layout, none carry an Austin or Morris badge. Sir Alec was a combination of everything that was right AND wrong about the British car industry in his day. His fingerprints are all over other cars, too, the Austin 1800 Land Crab and the Austin Maxi for example, but not always as successfully, as we shall see. Alec Issigonis Net Worth 2023, Age, Height, Relationships, Married, Dating, Family, Wiki Biography . Daniels effectively resumed his position as Issigoniss right hand man for the next ten years or more, guiding the interpretation of Issigoniss requests to the workshops, draughtsmen, production engineers and accountants. This is the main reason Lord re-hired Issigonis. Sir Alecs design which we built won the design centre award. Lord Alfred Robens , Chairman of the National Coal Board, wearing cap and gown as he is installed as the new Chancellor of the University of . He was appointed to this post by Lords successor, Sir George Harriman, who was even more in awe of him than Lord was, but also was even more unable to control and guide Issigonis. Demosthenis acquired British nationality through the work he did for the British-built Smyrna-Aydin Railway. The war years were spent. And I myself have engineered a few things with the help of Jack Daniels . Issigonis would work on the 9X programme, which included a replacement Mini and a new and innovative gearless transmission system. The cars design with its front wheel drive and independent suspension provided good road handling, but Issigonis had scant regard for passenger comfort. Born in Turkey, Issigonis come to England as a teenager. Unique. BMC . Issigonis died in England in 1988 at the age of 81, having lived long enough to see his beloved Mini sell in excess of five million units. Encouraged by the success of the Morris Minor, Issigonis continued his design work at Morris (including work on a replacement for the Minor with a transverse 4 cylinderengine with an endon gearbox) until the merger with the Austin in 1952 to form BMC. In 1936, he moved to Morris Motors Limited at Cowley working on an independent front suspension system for the Morris 10. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. And a rally demon was born. If you see something that doesnt look right, contact us. Morris 1100. Manual transmissions seemed to hold up ok,lasting at least as long as the engine. Oxford Office. There were, as CC has seen, many and varied reasons for the failure of the Landcrab and Maxi: the control (or rather the lack of it) exercised by Lord and Harriman over Issigonis; the inherited components; and marketing and production issues. If it was front engined, was it to be rear wheel or front wheel drive? The first front wheel drive car from BL after Issigoniss retirement was the Austin Allegro, still with the gearbox in the sump and without the obvious hatchback. Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, CBE, FRS, RDI (Alec Issigonis) was born on 18 November 1906 in Smyrna in Greece (now Izmir, Turkey) and would become world-renowned for designing the Mini and Morris Minor for BMC. He persisted in this into the 1980s, competing in vain against the Austin Metro, an improved version of the BMC A series engine and seemingly oblivious to the Companys financial state. PDF SIR ALEC ISSIGONIS was an automobile engineer whose name will always be People : Sir Alec Issigonis - AROnline Cooper took the prototype out for a spin and realised this fuel-saving people's car cornered like no other. He died in October 1988, aged 82. The 1100 benefited from someone elses external design. 8050 Alec Issigonis Way, Oxford Business Park North, Oxford, United Kingdom, OX4 2HW. As a person whos worked as a CAD drafter for 24 years, I wonder what his objection to CAD was. As his father studied in London, being an engineer, the family were British subjects and were thus evacuated to Malta by the Royal Navy in September 1922, ahead of the Great Fire of Smyrna at the end of the . Alec Issigonis - Wikipedie He managed to obtain his Diploma, but was not admitted to advanced studies. Issigonis never married; most accounts suggest that he was probably gay but he was obviously unable to express himself without huge risk to his professional status and even the risk of prosecution. [14], He was granted the rank of Knight Bachelor in the 1969 Birthday Honours[15] and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II during an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace on 22 July of the same year. Morriss chief engineer, A V (Vic) Oak, recognised that Issigoniss greatest asset was his imagination but also noted that it needed to be guided firmly but carefully to bring out the best of it. He showed that cars could be practical and pleasant to ride in and drive, and that size was not everything; he defined the template for the small petrol engined car for 50 years, maybe longer, and showed how modest cars could become wish list items, attracting customer such as Enzo Ferrari. The Motor Museum in Miniature Issigonis was knighted in 1968, 1955 Morris Minor: Britains Favorite Car Bar None, And Rightly So, Austin Seven (Mini): The Future Started Here. Im sure the Renault 4, 5, 6, and 16 had longitudinal engines. Alec is . He was flattered to be copied, though. [16], In 2003 he was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in the United States. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. I appreciate the research the depth and the smooth writing style to present it all in a gripping way. Issigonis had also been involved in the larger Oxford, Isis and Wolseley ranges. Sir Alec Constantine Issigonis, born in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire on November 18, 1906, is famous for designing the beloved Mini Cooper motor car. His mother was from Bavaria. Im sure this was never part of Issigoniss plan, as he was anti-style, but only the 1100 benefited from external help. TOP 8 QUOTES BY ALEC ISSIGONIS | A-Z Quotes As you know I was away when the little ceremony took place to mark your retirement and I have, of [], Sir Alec Issigonis, designer of the Mini, among other cars, is to remain design consultant with British Leyland after he goes into semi-retirement at the end of the month. The ways in which things went sour for BMC , and for Alec himself, are all too well known: but with this little car, they surely both earned a big place in history. Get In Touch Call or Email. Thanks for this terrific bio on one of the all-time greats in the field. Issigonis would later state that pure mathematics (is) the enemy of every truly creative man. He began his engineering career at Morris Motors Ltd. in 1936 as a steering and suspension engineer. The Greek Designer of the Iconic British Mini Car - GreekReporter.com Sir Alex Arnold Constantine Issigonis (1906-1988) - Find a Grave Noch ein Mini! His motor industry career at Humber, and during his time there, he competed in motor racing notably designing his own lightweight version of a supercharged Ulster Austin Seven with his own front axle. In 1956, the focus was shifted towards a new economy car and from here, the Mini was born in 1959. Bernd Peter Pischetsrieder. On 15 October 2006 a rally was held at the Heritage Motor Centre in Gaydon, England, to celebrate the centenary of Issigonis's birth. If only it had had more power and better gearing. My Family's Cars and Industry Pivots: Transverse Mounted Front Wheel Drive In October, 1957, just eight months after first putting pen to paper, the first prototypes were on the road. Its practicality and affordability made it immediately popular; by the time of Issigonis death more than five million had been sold. Chrysler also took a licence to manufacture the device, which was an integral part of their pioneering overdrive in 1934. He failed his degree course but gained a diploma in Mechanical Engineering, at the third attempt, in 1928. Young Alec grew up in a very affluent environment, with influences from Germany and Greece (he grew up speaking German and Greek), rather than Turkey and Britain. As British subjects - his father having naturalised whilst studying engineering in London in 1897 - Issigonis and his parents were evacuated to Malta by the Royal Navy in September 1922 ahead of the Great Fire of Smyrna and the Turkish capture of Smyrna at the end of the Greco-Turkish War. An image from the 1964 Racing Car Show in the aftermath of the Mini's first Monte Carlo Rally win. His father, a successful and wealthy shipbuilding engineer, was of Greek origin but held a British passport. Historiography: The Misapplication of Issigonis' Engineering Breakthrough Then of course there was severe corrosion in the face of road salt. The car, as developed in a prototype form, showed potential as well as technical ambition the cars unitary construction made it relatively light and strong, it offered 6 seats, had a rear mounted transaxle, including the clutch, inboard rear brakes, long wheelbase configuration so typical of Issigonis and a modern, sophisticated 3.5 litre V8 engine. Issigonis had no input to the Marina (other than it using substantial elements from the Morris Minor of course) or the Allegro, as BMC had passed a thin very development programme to Leyland in 1968, largely due to financial pressures. By early 1957, prototypes were running, and by mid-1957 the project was given an official drawing office project number (ADO15) so that the thousands of drawings required for production could be produced. I was eight when my dad bought one of those brand new cars at a reduced price from the NYC dealer $850 for an Austin 850 ($6,800 in 2016 money) People of this zodiac sign like truth, being right, longtime friends, teasing, and dislike dishonesty, revealing secrets, passive people. His father died in 1922, at which point he and his mother moved to the U.K.. This car basically took the Mini concept and enlarged it by 20%, adding some experience, and ambition, at the same time. I remember being quite put off by the sound of the engine seemingly racing to maintain 45mph. Alec Issigonis Related Authors Vivienne Westwood Quotes Virgil Abloh Quotes Coco Chanel Quotes Carroll Shelby Quotes This post and its visuals and videos explains this pivotal vector of the international industry with such clarity and depth. Having been a passenger in an early Austin Landcrab on several occasions I can confirm they are amazingly spacious inside, front and rear. File nella categoria "Alec Issigonis" Questa categoria contiene 5 file, indicati di seguito, su un totale di 5. His little cars were a success despite him. And the 1800 the rear seat really seemed limousine-like for the size of the car. He immigrated to Britain in 1922, studied engineering and in 1948 masterminded the Morris Minor, the first British car to sell more than a million. Many did not even make it through the warranty period without the transmission self-destructing. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. [3] Whilst he is most famous for his creation of the Mini, he was most proud of his participation in the design of the Morris Minor. Getting a guy like Issigonis to design a V8 saloon and just chucking it in the bin. In 1952, just as the British Motor Corporation (BMC) was formed by the merger of Morris and Austin, he moved to Alvis Cars where he designed an advanced saloon with all-aluminium V-8 engine, and experimented with interconnected independent suspension systems. A reliable car with excellent steering and cornering qualities, it was the first all-British car to pass the one million mark in sales; surviving models are still cherished by owners and collectors. Sticks in my mind I read a road test that put engine speed at 60 around 4,000rpm. Biography: Sir Alec Issigonis - The Designer of Britain's Favourite At the time of his retirement, 71, hatchbacks were not the thing they were 4 years later. Alec Issigonis, the brilliant British designer of the Morris Minor and the Mini, is one of the commanding figures in the history of automobile design and engineering. In 1942, the first scale model was produced and the following year work began on a hand-formed steel prototype. [], In Part One of this fascinating series, which originally appeared in Vehicle Engineer,AROnline Contributor IanElliott applies his insider knowledge to spelling out the exact sequence of mergers that led to [], Photography: Martin Bell One of the design team who worked on the original Mini has revealed how the revolutionary small car came about. The task: a car with lots of space inside with minimum dimensions outside, seats for four passengers, impeccable driving characteristics, superior fuel economy, and a very affordable price. In 1936, Issigonis moved again, to the Morris Motor Company, as a project engineer on an independent front suspension system for the Morris 10, where his experience at Rootes would start to bear fruit. The relationship got to the point where Issigonis had the ideas, did the sketches and Daniels did the formal drawings. No wonder Issigonis felt flattered I feel very, very proud that so many people have copied me.. Not something one would anticipate until it is experienced. * Commander of the British Empire (1964), Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (1967), Royal Designer for Industry (1964). Lord was looking for modernity, but he was also looking for commonality of engines, good quality design and cars good enough to be amongst the best in their class and internationally competitive. At the end of 1955, Issigonis was recruited back into BMC - this time into the Austin plant at Longbridge - by its chairman Sir Leonard Lord, to design a new model family of three cars. Unless it was at some very small, unique company; something like TVR comes to mind. Issigonis name will always be associated with the Morris Minor, built for over 20 years, and with the Mini, a car he designed very quickly in the late 1950s and which was built for over 40 years, throughout the tumultuous history of BMC and BLMC, ending only after the BMW led break up of the Rover Group in 2000. Oak placed another engineer, Jack Daniels, alongside him to keep his feet on the ground. Alec Issigonis, the man who dreamed of the Mini - Archyde Arguably, Issigonis and BL were in danger of being left behind. They represent many years of design study in attempts to produce the best value for money in the field of small car design. Beyond the Maxi, launched on 1969, Issigonis had left little visible influence on the new cars coming from British Leyland, and indeed, the company made definite moves that would have been unthinkable to him, such as the bold, deliberately contemporary styling of the Austin-Morris 18-22 (Princess range) or the Allegro, or the conservative engineering of the Morris Marina. Alec Issigonis - Wikipedia ), British automobile designer who created the best-selling, economical Mini and the perennially popular Morris Minor. He designed the Mini, launched by the British Motor Corporation in 1959, and voted the second most influential car of the 20th century in 1999. Giving the Mini, ADO16 and ADO17 were all designed well before hatchbacks were popular, the beancounters no doubt would be up in arms at the thought of spending more money on tooling for an already old design. I saw one, in 79 or 80, sold here as the MG Sports Sedan. The Mini, and the other Issigonis BMC front wheel drive cars, benefited from Issigonis continuing collaboration with Alex Moulton and his suspension system developments. Proslavil se zejmna nvrhem vozu Mini, kter uvedla na trh British Motor Corporation v . His mother was Bavarian, the daughter of a brewer. The Axis Powers? He would instead research work on his Mini replacement the 9X with its compact transverse engine. is military terminology referring to "Government Issue" or "General Issue". Sir Alec Issigonis celebrates one of the many milestones of the Mini dynasty. All Rights Reserved. I dont have any great memories of the Mini to share, though you saw them everywhere. A deeply flawed genius at best. Address 8050 Alec Issigonis Way, Oxford Business Park North, Oxford, OX4 2HW. View gallery - 6 images. The greatest overall compatibility with Scorpio is Taurus and Cancer. By the mid 1970s, Issigonis was beginning suffer from Menieres disease, and the consequent loss of full control of his balance let him to retreat from prominence. Alexandros Arnold Constantine Issigonis, more commonly known as Alec Issigionis, was born in Smyrna, Asia Minor, on November 18, 1906. When he turned his attention to the ADO16, Issigonis continued his obsession with the maximisation of passenger space combined with the best possible road holding. Happy birthday to the Mini - New Atlas By 1945, a full scale static prototype close to the familiar production form was completed. From 1925-1928 he studied engineering at Battersea Polytechnic in London. Bedtime story - Alec Issigonis - Enthusiasts of British Motor Vehicles Sir Alec Issigonis. Mr. Front-Wheel Drive: Sir Alec Issigonis - Academia.edu Even more significantly, it effectively defined the configuration of the small and medium car for the next 50 years. Meanwhile, back at the office, Issigonis had devised an independent coil spring system for the first unitary construction Morris, the 1938 Ten, but which did not go into production as Morris, conservative as ever, chose a more conventional and cheaper beam axle solution. The initials "G.I." This was the man who persisted in pursuing a gearless car using only a torque converter, who rubbished CAD in favour of slide rules, who did most of his designs in rough and passed them to his acolytes to make real. At the end of 1955, Issigonis was recruited back into BMC, this time into the Austin plant at Longbridge, by its chairman Sir Leonard Lord, to design a new model family of three cars. . It was more like a Lancia or a rear drive Citroen than a Rover or a Sunbeam-Talbot. As a matter of interest, go to this site: and click on the Letter From Dr. Alex Moulton link. 18 November 1906 2 October 1988", Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society, " Alec Issigonis | Automotive Hall of Fame", Alec Issigonis Automotive Designer (19061988), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alec_Issigonis&oldid=1135124708, This page was last edited on 22 January 2023, at 19:54. Richard Bremneris well-known for being a highly-respected motoring scribe, but in his formative years, he worked in the employ of Austin-Rover. Certainly, it was not the right job for him, taking him too far away from the sketching and ideas, and into meetings about pay scale reviews and marketing policies. Demosthenis's son (Alec's father) Constantine Issigonis (Greek: ), was born, with British nationality, in Smyrna in 1872. [10], There is a road named "Alec Issigonis Way" in the Oxford Business Park on the former site of the Morris Motors factory in Cowley, Oxfordshire. Therefore, when Alec's father, Constantine Issigonis, was born in Smyrna in 1872, he was also a British national. However, at the end of 1956, following fuel rationing brought about by the Suez Crisis, Issigonis was ordered by Lord to bring the smaller car, XC/9003, to production as quickly as possible. Mini: a brief history - The Telegraph But accounts do suggest it done in a pretty crass way. My doodles and sketches are not the work of an academic engineer. Alexander Issigonis was born into the Greek community of Smyrna (now Izmir) in Ottoman Turkey. The first car to repeat the concept of the Mini was the ADO16, which is often considered to be Issigoniss finest hour. Sir Alec Issigonis - Driven To Write But it was an exciting period, and youve captured his personality and lasting impact well. Issigonis first concepts were rear wheel drive, with a conventional drive train, fully independent suspension set on a long wheelbase with short overhangs and very rudimentary styling. My sister had an MG 1100 which blew me away in 1970. Looking at the Minor or the Mini, I can believe that. German Engineer Who Designed And Built The First Practical Automobile (Crossword ClueThe crossword clue German engineer who designed and built the first practical automobile. " Sir Alec Issigonis. The gearbox sharing the sump oil worked ok, but the transmission absolutely pulverised the lubricating qualities out of the oil, and it really required changing every 3000 miles if you wanted the thing to last. The Crossword Solver finds answers to classic crosswords and cryptic crossword puzzles.